A British backpacker described today how he made his dramatic escape from kidnappers in Colombia.

A British backpacker described today how he made his dramatic escape from kidnappers in Colombia.

Londoner Matthew Scott, 19, escaped on Tuesday from the guerillas who captured him and another British tourist. While on a forced walk through the jungle, he made his bid for freedom by sliding down a precipice and was fed by Indians before an army patrol found him.

After being flown by helicopter to Santa Marta on the Caribbean coast, Mr Scott told of his desperate dash. Speaking from his hospital bed at a military base, he said: "I haven't eaten hardly anything for the last 12 days. We were walking in a line with the guerillas. It was raining in the mountains, the visibility wasn't good, and I quickly slipped down the mountain.

"The tribe that found me gave me soup and beans with a little salt and three oranges. Those are the only things I've eaten in the last 12 days."